Sarah's Awesome Mug / The Sweets Top 10

Sarah of AFineDistraction.etsy.com made a top 10 list on her mug which a bunch of us just loved!


10. When in doubt, ask a Sweet.
9. Don't renew. List the new.
8. Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!
7. We are NOT Walmart.
6. Meet all good news with a mighty
RAR
5. Chocolate isn't optional.
4. Learn. Evolve. Every stitch is a new
miracle.
3. If you put yourself down, you get the
skillet.
2. You are a goddess of creativity.
Price accordingly.
And #1...
Support and friendship are but a few clicks away.

March Craft Challenge Voting Open

Can you believe that February is almost over? That means that winter is almost over for most of us! Yay! Sorry, Kylie, because I guess that means your summer is almost over, and that always makes me sad.

Please vote for the craft challenge you want to participate in next month. You can choose up to 3. And, as always, participation is entirely voluntary. No prizes either, just the satisfaction of trying something new. I know several of us have really gotten into the crocheting challenge, and have a new appreciation for yarn. I can't wait to see the mugs either.

Only 6 days to vote with this poll, darn that short February, so don't delay, vote today!

Some Sweet Treasuries!

A few of us snagged some treasuries last night!

Charming Treasury of Beautiful Sweets Creations

 

Thank you Kim of Chloe and Maddie for putting this lovely treasury together!

Ophelias Apothecary - Our very own Deborah is featured on the Etsy Storque

Love is in the air. V. day is around the corner. And we all knew and always believed that Deborah from Ophelia's Apothecary would make it big when she opened her bath and body shop on Esty last year. Well, she did it. She's featured in the Etsy Storque :D

Meet Deborah and Heather.

Read it here: http://www.etsy.com/storque/handmade-life/etsy-love-stories-opheliasapothecary-7032/

Love,
All the Sweets

BeadFloraJewels, aka Fen

January Craft Report

January marked the beginning of our monthly craft challenge, and after a vote, we decided on something easy. ACEOs. The hardest part about making these little art cards is deciding what medium to use. Some of us stuck with what we knew, and others branched out, but the results were all spectacular. Even if one wasn't entirely thrilled with their own results, *cough... me... cough, cough*, I think we all had fun trying.

Thirteen of us participated in the January challenge. Take a look:

 

To match the artists with their art cards, please check out our flickr photo group, here.

Well done, ladies. Can't wait to see all the finished crocheted items!

~Elle

Front Page Excitement

Recently, the Etsy admin have rolled out some changes. Now, instead of unilaterally choosing items for the front page, they've started to ask us who should be there. The Sweets love a good nomination thread, and so have taken on this challenge with gusto. And it paid off in spades this weekend.

I hope that I didn't miss anyone, but I used the Vault over at Craft Cult for my research, and, since the Friday 5:00 p.m. front page until the Monday 5:00 a.m. front page, 14  15 (!) Sweets made an appearance. This includes Kim, Kristin, Lauren, Fen, Gayathri, Kylie, Nora,  Holly Anne,  Jennifer, Kila, Sue, Kara, Melissa, and me. AND Wendy!

Some of us were alternates, but I think even the alternates made at least limited appearances. We were on 9 different front pages, at all times of the day and night. The Sunday 8:00 p.m. had 5 Sweets at once (2 were alternates).

Congratulations to everyone!

~Elle

The Bonus Mug Challenge

Here are some more details about the mug challenge.

You'll need some supplies.

1 Mug (the one in the picture is from Ikea). Click on the link. A white ceramic vase would be nice, too. Or even a pretty pastel.






1 Pebeo pen I believe that you can get these at Michaels, too.

 

An oven. You'll have to check to see if you have one in your kitchen. Then: write your quote on the mug, or decorate a vase, let your imagination run free! Let the ink dry for 24 hours and then bake it in your home oven for 35 minutes at 300 degrees F (you Celsius girls will have to get out a converter). This makes the ink permanent.

Please leave any Daily Sweets quotes in the comments for inspiration!

February Craft Challenge

What you've all been waiting for! Well, as you can see by the poll results, it looks like we'll be learning how to crochet this month. Unlike last month's challenge, where we could choose our medium, and thus possibly already had the skills even if we had never made an ACEO, this month, many of us will really be learning something entirely new.

If you know how to crochet, and would like to offer guidance, that would be great! A good place to start may be recommended links or books, and you can leave those right in the comments. Perhaps some awesome youtube videos. Last year, I dabbled in teaching myself to crochet, and purchased a book by Susan Bates called My Crochet Teacher that includes special left hand instructions. I think I bought it at Michaels.

And I know that February is a short month, but we're going to do a bonus craft as well. I need to gather some more information on supplies for it, but this will be a mug project. And it's simple and quick. Intrigued?

Tomorrow will be a wrap up of the January ACEO challenge complete with pictures!